Intelligence Tests Do Not Measure What They Are Supposed to Measure
Joel Jalanne
Dr. Carol Silverberg, Ph.D
ENGL 110-CD – Response Final
17 March 2011 The quantifying an individual’s intelligence has been the ultimate goal of a great number of educators and psychologists. The notoriously famous Binet-Simon’s scale has been in use since 1905, when it was first introduced to the general public, and the scale has experienced multiple changes since the first day. The question is, do IQ-test really measures person’s intelligence? According to Howard Gardner’s article “Human Intelligence Isn’t What We Think It Is”, humans are multi-intelligence beings. So, IQ-test merely cannot provide an accurate representation of an individual’s intelligence level, rather IQ-tests generally measure only two forms of intelligence which are linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences.
However, we human beings are comprised of many other intelligences than just these two. So, what about spatial intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and the slew of others that go into everyday life? Why are these important traits not figured into standardized intelligence tests? According to Howard Gardner, the reason why linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence tests have been successful is that they serve as good predictor of how people will do in school in the short run (Gardner 812).
Judging children based on their IQ-test may have really bad social effects in the long run. This is why educators should broaden their horizon to the long run rather the short run. In order to really gauge persons’ intelligence, it would be necessary to put them through a rigorous set of real-life trials and document their performance. The testing would have to take place in different stages of one’s life. Then, when a strong trait is found, keep strengthening it and make sure there will be an actual benefit for the person in the long run. However, if the trait is not strong
Dr. Carol Silverberg, Ph.D
ENGL 110-CD – Response Final
17 March 2011 The quantifying an individual’s intelligence has been the ultimate goal of a great number of educators and psychologists. The notoriously famous Binet-Simon’s scale has been in use since 1905, when it was first introduced to the general public, and the scale has experienced multiple changes since the first day. The question is, do IQ-test really measures person’s intelligence? According to Howard Gardner’s article “Human Intelligence Isn’t What We Think It Is”, humans are multi-intelligence beings. So, IQ-test merely cannot provide an accurate representation of an individual’s intelligence level, rather IQ-tests generally measure only two forms of intelligence which are linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences.
However, we human beings are comprised of many other intelligences than just these two. So, what about spatial intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and the slew of others that go into everyday life? Why are these important traits not figured into standardized intelligence tests? According to Howard Gardner, the reason why linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence tests have been successful is that they serve as good predictor of how people will do in school in the short run (Gardner 812).
Judging children based on their IQ-test may have really bad social effects in the long run. This is why educators should broaden their horizon to the long run rather the short run. In order to really gauge persons’ intelligence, it would be necessary to put them through a rigorous set of real-life trials and document their performance. The testing would have to take place in different stages of one’s life. Then, when a strong trait is found, keep strengthening it and make sure there will be an actual benefit for the person in the long run. However, if the trait is not strong